Pattern Challenge - Green crossover top finished

I did it!  I actually finished one of my planned out shirts - McCalls 5809.  Here's the plan I started with:

And here's the result: 

Pattern:  McCalls 5809
View:  B
Size:  I took body measurements and compared them to the pattern pieces and cut different pieces different sizes, anywhere from 12 to 18, plus I did an FBA. 
Fabric:  Free solid color stretch knit

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?  I'm not sure it really did, but what shirt does look the same on a size 4 model as on a size 14? 

Were the instructions easy to follow?  I thought the pattern instructions were fairly easy to follow.  I made some modifications because I was sewing with a knit fabric, but I was never sitting there scratching my head over the directions on the sheet.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  I think (and saw the same thing mentioned on PatternReview.com) that the upper back piece is very oddly sized.  I cut the upper back piece smallest of all the pieces, and the shoulder width at the back is still easily 2" too much for me.  You can see in the pictures how this made the neck back sag (that and I should have stretched the binding a little bit 'cause it's a knit - I don't think it's worth fixing now, though).  The side seam between the top front and top back is displaced toward the front by about 1" on each side, but the side seams for the band and bottom are in the correct place.  It could be partially insufficient FBA but I think the pattern was also a bit whack to begin with. 

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:  The only style change that I made was to shorten the height of the middle band because the bottom edge of it fell at an uncomfortable position initially.  Well, the only intentional change.  Looking at it now I see that I reversed the wrap orientation also.
The instructions indicate to gather the bottom of the bodice and then sew the sides together, but after trying that three times I decided to sew the pieces together first and then gather them. 
I also disregarded the pattern instruction to topstitch the hems and did them by hand.  I need to level up my hemming a bit more, but I think it looks ok. 
As far as altering the pattern, as I mentioned I cut different sizes of each piece and had some fiddling getting them together.  I didn't think through the FBA completely and I cut the side of the front piece about 2" longer than it was supposed to be, so I added gathers at the side front to take up the extra inches.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  I probably will make this pattern again, or at least a variation on this pattern.  I decided from wearing this that the crossover bodice is not a good style for me because it moves around too much.  Every time I turn around, it's gone from prim and proper (or at least somewhere near that) to... not.  But I've also been pondering fit issues, and I'm wondering whether it's easier to buy a new pattern for every style and then make all of the required modifications to make it fit, or if it's better to have just a few patterns that I've fitted and then modify them to change the style.  I certainly know what would be cheaper...

Would you recommend it to others?   I don't think I would recommend this pattern to someone else because there are a lot of similarly styled tops that hopefully would not have the same issue with the top back pattern piece.

Conclusion: I feel it's a little sad that I consider the construction of this shirt to have been one of the smoothest in my career.  Counting seams that I ripped apart and resewed and pattern pieces that I recut, I estimate that overall I sewed at least twice as many seams as there are in the garment.    Overall I'd say that it's a wearable muslin - the fit is not perfect and the fabric is pretty boring.  I very much welcome any suggestions to remedy the following, because I am likely to see them again: 

- Pulls under the bust (more FBA?)
- Wrinkles across the back
- Sagging neck in the back (I do know how to fix this one)
 - Extra material in the lower front that swings out
- Sleeve pulls at the front and wrinkles in the back (that might just be how I was standing for the picture) 

Do you see anything else?  I seriously DO want you to point out more flaws...

Let the people decide...

Not really, ha!  Like I would let you guys decide what I'm going to do with my precious sewing time.  But I'll at least consider your advice. 

This fabric... do we think it's right for this jacket?

'Cause someone will ask, fabric is from Fashion Fabrics Club and pattern is McCalls 5759.

Ok new plan

 aka pattern review update

I said that I was going to make a jacket, a ceylon dress, and the liverpool tunic, but then I started pondering issues of fit and usefulness and I've decided to put those off for a while.  Instead I'll be focusing on things that I actually, you know, need.  Namely, some new shirts for work.  (Pants would probably be more helpful but also harder to sew.)

Here's what I'm thinking of:

I just know that all of you are looking at this and thinking "OH HAI WRAP SHIRTS R US."  No?  Those weren't the exact words in your mind?  Well, to answer the accusation that you aren't making, then, the reason is that I was looking for one wrap shirt but in picking through all of the wrap shirt patterns in existence, I found that I actually consider three of them to be suitable, along with a tank top thingy that will maybe hopefully be work-wearable. 

Now as for fabric, a recent afternoon of errand-running yielded several bags of free knits from a self-confessed fabric hoarder.  I wish that my coloring was a bit more compatible with hers, because she had soooo many nice knits that she was giving away but most of them were pastels, which make me look ill. 

I'm thinking this fabric for the vogue tank top.  It looks brown but is actually gold and black woven together:

This green is (probably) destined for the McCall's top (if the line drawing looks a little funny to you, don't worry!  I swear that I tried on a top of identical design at the mall and it looked brilliant on me)

I'm thinking I'll use this light brownish fabric for the ruched top from Simplicity:

I don't have fabric on hand for the drapey/flowy Simplicity top, (that I know of) so that is likely to be a new purchase.

I'm also planning to freshen up some old shirts by painting them using freezer paper stencils.  I picked up some fabric paints this afternoon so now there are no obstacles remaining!

How to pwn at Craigslist

A couple of people have asked about Craigslist, so I thought I would share how to set things up so that you are automatically alerted of new craigslist listings in areas you are interested in.
Is this even possible, you say?? Yes, if you use some kind of reader (Google Reader, Bloglines, My Yahoo, etc) to view blogs, you can send craigslist searches to go to your reader. That's really helpful if you are looking for something specific. For example, I'm interested in finding a dressform. I go search on craigslist and don't see anything suitable, but I know I'd like to keep an eye out in case a new one shows up. The feed will bring any new listing that meets your criteria to your attention, instead of you having to repeatedly do searches.
So here's how you do it: Go to craigslist and do your search, making it as specific as possible. You don't want more than 2-3 results to come up because otherwise you will be overrun with them in your reader. You can add "-" terms to your search to help narrow things. In the case of the dress form, you might get a lot of results for dresses. You can change your search from "dress form" to "dress form -gown -evening -wedding" to eliminate any posts that also contain the words gown, evening, or wedding. The check boxes on the right side can be useful as well - when I was searching for a dining room table, I checked the "has image" box because I knew that I wouldn't even bother responding to an ad that didn't having a picture.
Once you have your search dialed in, at the bottom of the results screen you click on the RSS button (orange with text "RSS" in white).


That'll take you to a page where you can choose what kind of reader you use. Select your feed reader from the dropdown menu and click "Subscribe Now." You'll be taken to a login page so that it knows who to send the feed to. Once you're finished with that, you can sit back and relax.

I don't recommend using this method if you are searching for extremely hot items - like free furniture on the curb. The feed only updates a few times a day (I'm given to understand that updating more frequently would cause problems - feed readers would decide that the feed is spam and block it.) If you are looking for things that might be gone in 20 minutes or an hour, you aren't likely to get the news in time. In most cases, though, it takes a couple of days to make a transaction on Craiglist, so the feed reader works great.

The Wench

Last week I secured this little baby - we named her "The Wench."

She's the one on the left.  With the red skin.  Me on the right.

The Wench is an adjustable dress form (brand name "My Double") that retails for about 5 times what I paid for it.  Sweet!  I also picked up a partial bolt of Warm & Natural for $20.  Double score!  <3 you, Craigslist.

The day that I got her, I spent the evening measuring and adjusting her and fitting her with a padded bra (which you can see in the picture has shifted around a bit to the side).  I'd say I've got her looking pretty good - I tweaked the waist a bit after taking this picture. 

Since then she's been lurking in the living room and waiting to freak people out with her scary similarity to my body.  And her headlessness, of course.   

Giveaway winner!

The winner of my Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway is comment # 189. Because of the way I made my list, this was actually one of the first comments:

Jackie suggested: "How about using some of it to make softees:-)"

Jackie chose the linen and linen/cotton blend fabrics and those will be winging their way to her shortly.

Jackie's was not the only awesome idea - all of the following have been added to my list for these upholstery scraps:

Fabric bowls
Small pillows/patchwork pillows
Place mats/pot holders/napkins
Christmas ornaments (from velvet pieces)
iPod/cell phone cozies
Covering bench/stool/small furniture with fabric using mod podge.
I might even do something like Vic's amazing patchwork upholstered chair - although probably on a smaller scale. My office chair might become really exciting pretty soon. :)
crayon rolls/art books
Slippers (awesome idea! I would never have come up with this one, but I love it)
Small framed patchwork art
Pin cushions
Fabric covered buttons
Fabric baskets
Scent pouches for drawers/shoes/etc

Perhaps Jackie will get inspiration from some of these ideas as well. :)

Giveaway Day!

I got this huge stash of upholstery fabrics and it was an awesome find, but there is too much. (I know, too much fabric, who would have thought??). At the rate I'm going, I'll have to beat out Methuselah in order to use it all. And soooo when Sew Mama Sew announced another giveaway, I knew just the thing.

The giveaway winner will receive a USPS flat rate box filled with their choice from the fabric sample pieces below. Don't tell me your preferences in the comments - I want to hear something interesting. ;) I'll ask the winner for their choices via email. To enter, please give me ideas for projects to do with the rest of the samples. (I really need ideas!) You can earn an additional entry by leaving a (relevant) comment on any other post in my blog history.

Giveaway will close on May 20th at midnight. The winner will be chosen at random, and I will ship internationally.

And without further ado, on to the fabrics:


These pieces are microsuade and approximately 10" x 15".


These are silk and each approximately one foot square.



These two are linen or linen/cotton blend fabrics, all of which are washable (and have been prewashed). I do not know if any of the other fabrics can be washed. Three pieces are slightly larger, but most are 12" square.


These fabrics are a synthetic blend, and the weight is like a medium wool. The pieces vary in size from about 5" x 15" to 12" x 15". They seem like they would be nice for coin purses or other small bags.


These pieces are all velvet and they are smaller than the rest, about 6" square.